


St. Valentine's Day at Sea

by JustAnotherUnderstudy



Series: This Should Totally Be A Thing [6]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Better Than Canon, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fix-It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Not Canon Compliant, Older Woman/Younger Man, On the Run, Rare Fandoms, Rare Pairings, Tanner ships it, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-18 10:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9381389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherUnderstudy/pseuds/JustAnotherUnderstudy
Summary: Part three of my "Holidays" series.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [detectivecaz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/detectivecaz/gifts), [saye0036](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saye0036/gifts), [tayryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/gifts), [Lilibet2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilibet2/gifts), [TemporaMores](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TemporaMores/gifts), [jisforjudi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisforjudi/gifts), [Grace_Kelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Kelly/gifts), [bufan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bufan/gifts).



> A little funny story: As I went to edit this story, I wanted some background reading music. It helps me focus. So I found on Spotify an album called "The Soothing Sounds of Rushing Waters." Sounds great, right? Yeah, not so much. All I could picture was the beginning of Skyfall and James floating down the river and over the waterfall. :D
> 
> Anyway, this is the third installment of this series. Not much to say about it except there's some angst and, as always with these chapters, a super sweet ending. :)

This was why she was probably such a poor mother, Olivia thought. Good mothers sat by their children's bedsides when they were ill. They offered the usual sorts of comforts and consolations. Olivia would rather have dealt with paperwork than this.

She sighed, then tensed as another wave of convulsions racked James' body.

She reached into the bucket beside her and pulled the rag from the icy water, wrung it out and placed it on his chest. 

It seemed to soothe him, but unless the antibiotics she'd stolen right before the ship left port started working better than they seemed to the past 24 hours, that would be all it was worth.

Olivia forced herself to stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. She'd run through all the worst scenarios in the hours after James had been shot. It had just grazed his side but in their need to make a quick get away from their hiding place in Germany, James had neglected to even mention it to her.

_"Stupid boy, what were you thinking?"_

_"Oh, right. As if you wouldn't have done the same."_

_She glared back at him, but he was right. She would have._

And now they were in a small room in the bowels of a huge shipping freighter, heading south to warmer and, hopefully, calmer waters. The rocky sea did give Olivia the excuse that James was suffering from severe sea-sickness when the Captain sent them down their food.

The ship had been their only reasonable exit and Olivia had shoved a huge amount of money into the Captain's hands to avoid a whole lot of questions. They'd only found it through a former contact James had who worked on board. It had taken the money and a bit of convincing on the crewman's part that this was dire to national security to get them in with few eyes seeing them.

Now they hoped to make it to Portugal before finding a quick way out of Europe. It wasn't James' first choice. He wanted to stay in areas with frigid winters so they could hide themselves from CCTV cameras on the streets. But Olivia was fluent in Portuguese and, as she'd told James, it was as good a place as any.

She tried to hold onto the hope James kept trying to force on her. She still found herself thinking this was all a waste of his time. And if he didn't recover from this infection, it would be more her fault he'd died than when she'd ordered the shot that sent him into hiding for three months nursing his damn pride.

There was a knock on the cabin door and Olivia picked up James' Walther before walking over.

Passcodes exchanged in Portuguese prompted Olivia to open the door. James' contact handed her a pitcher of purified water and carried in a tray of food for her. He set it down, looked at James with concern, then turned to go. He stopped at the door.

"Are you sure I shouldn't send the doctor?"

Olivia shook her head.

"I can't take any chances."

He nodded and shut the door behind him.

Olivia locked it and sighed. This was by far the most worried she'd been after their initial attempt to leave Scotland the previous autumn. 

This time they were entirely at the mercy of others and she could only hope Silva hadn't figured out where they'd vanished to.

She sat back down beside James and poured him some water. She was able to rouse him enough that he took a few sips. 

When he lay his head back down on the sweat soaked pillow he gazed up at her with unfocused eyes. 

She glanced at her watch and turned to the rucksack on the other cot. The box containing two more high doses of antibiotics was on top. She pulled it out and proceeded to fill one of the syringes.

By the time she turned back to him, he'd fallen back to sleep. When she inserted the needle into his arm he didn't flinch.

Olivia forced down the dread and picked at her meal. The food was palatable but Olivia's stomach was too nervous to eat much of it. She finally set the meal aside and changed the cloths she was using to try to bring James' temperature down.

She continued the process for another hour until her exhaustion won over and she laid out on the extra cot.

Her dreams gave way to her fears as they often did. A body didn't have the luxury of acknowledging that level of fear in her line of work, it would be paralyzing.

In her dream she stood with James and looked out over his family's land. He looked up toward the sky and commented that a storm was coming, just as he had before they headed back to the car. This time however a shot rang out and James stumbled backwards. He turned back toward her and Olivia watched as the blood stain blossomed on his chest. He staggered and fell, Olivia ran to him. She cradled his head in her lap as fear settled over her. Not the fear she expected, though. It wasn't the fear that Silva had already caught up to them and that the next shot would be in her chest. It was the fear that James was dying here in her arms.

"I failed you."

His voice was raspy as he coughed out the words.

"No. James, you've never failed me."

In his eyes she saw relief. He reached for her face and brushed his fingers softly across her cheek. Then he rested his hand on his chest and his eyes stared blankly at her. 

Olivia awoke and discovered she had been crying in her sleep. She wiped her eyes and looked over at James. He hadn't moved much from when she'd last seen him but his face looked more relaxed and his breathing didn't sound as labored.

She sat up and tried to calm herself from the effect the dream had on her. She hadn't felt this emotional since Christmas when she'd decided to let James go and end things herself. She involuntarily patted her pocket where she still kept the small tin vial. But she wouldn't need that, at least not yet.

James stirred and turned onto his side away from her. 

"James."

He took a deep breath and turned over. He still looked feverish but his eyes were clear. She forced away the image of the cold, glassy eyes that stared back at her in her dream.

She poured him some water and this time he sat up to drink it. His hands still shook too much to hold the glass himself and he looked up at her with gratitude as she held the glass to his lips.

He laid back down and finally spoke.

"Are we safe?"

"For now."

"How long have I been out?"

Olivia glanced at her watch and saw that she had slept six hours, though it felt as if she could sleep another 12. She was too old for this.

"About a day and a half."

James stared up at the ceiling.

"What day is it then? Thursday?"

"It should be."

Olivia smiled softly, unsure why the day mattered.

"St. Valentine's Day."

Now she laughed. 

"I suppose it is."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

James' voice was rough but his look held something that confused Olivia.

She reached over to her rucksack and this time pulled out a thermometer and brought it over to him.

"I hate to know how you've been taking my temperature thus far."

He huffed out a laugh.

Olivia glared at him though she was relieved he was joking again.

"I've not used anything. There was no need. It was obvious you were feverish. I just want to see if it's not terrifyingly high now."

James dutifully opened his mouth and took the thermometer under his tongue.

Olivia pulled the old cloths off his bed and rinsed out a cloth from the now tepid water. She wrung it and gently wiped the sweat from James' brow and wiped the cloth across his hair and around his neck. She hoped her face did not betray just how afraid she had been. The scene from her dream drifted back into her mind. 

James must have noticed something because he took her wrist and pulled her away from her ministrations.

"I'm fine."

He spoke around the thermometer.

She only harrumphed and pulled the thermometer out.

"100."

She read aloud.

"See. Fine."

She glared at him again.

He closed his eyes and Olivia hoped he'd go back to sleep. He needed a lot more rest before they reached port and they disembarked.

"Not much of a Valentine's Day."

His voice was soft and Olivia knew he'd be asleep in a moment.

"No roses. No chocolates. No candlelight dinner."

He shifted to his side, still facing her, and curled his arm up under his pillow.

Olivia tutted him but she felt as if she'd robbed him of something he deemed important. He'd never seemed the type, especially after how deeply Vesper had hurt him.

She knew she shouldn't ask, it was none of her business. But he was nearly asleep and probably wouldn't hear her.

"Who would you have given such things to?"

"You, of course."

His answer startled her. She stared at him but his breathing had evened out in sleep.

It was the fever, she reasoned. James probably didn't even know who he was talking to.

She wrung out another cloth and wiped across his neck as she looked down at his now peaceful face. 

Her dream was just that, a dream. For now, at least, they were both going to be OK. If they could just stay ahead of Silva until Tanner and MI6 could catch up with him, James could spend next Valentine's Day with someone more appropriate.

"Me." 

Her word was whispered with derision and she shook her head. 

"Indeed. I think you've been cooped up with me too long Bond."

He didn't respond, simply continued to sleep, a soft snore escaping his mouth.

Olivia watched him and chastised herself for the ridiculous wish that she was young enough that he had really meant her.

* * *

One year later 

James slowly roused from his afternoon post-coital slumber. The waves under the small boat keeping him sleep-bound longer than he'd planned.

He'd awoke Olivia with breakfast in bed that quickly morphed into a long round of love making. They'd spent luncheon up top enjoying the New Zealand summer sun before James coaxed Olivia back into their bed. He'd fallen asleep in her arms, an act he'd learned early on in this new stage of their relationship would ensure the best sleep possible.

As he rolled over and threw his legs off the side of the bed to sit he thought how happy he truly was that he'd finally crossed that line with her. He'd known for a long time no other woman would do for him and that the two of them would be perfect together, but he had always been a hopeless romantic.

Once he pulled on his shorts he made quick work of the steps. The sky had darkened which told him it was certainly later than he'd thought, but that's not what made him pause as his head came up even with the deck.

A table was placed there with a white linen tablecloth. As he stepped higher he saw it was formally set with a few small candles in the middle and two red roses in a slim vase. 

On the opposite side of the table from him sat Olivia, the small smile that made him ridiculously happy dancing across her lips.

"Happy Valentine's Day, James."

He stepped to her side of the table and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Liv."

When he sat down he noticed the chocolates scattered about the table. 

"Everything looks perfect for the day."

"I thought you might like it."

The tone of her voice told James there was more behind this setting than just the day. But he wasn't sure what.

It was summer here, coupled with the fact they had a very tiny galley aboard, Olivia served a cold Butternut Squash soup followed by a Chicken Caesar salad, and chocolate mousse for dessert.

When they finished, James cleared the table then broke it down and stowed it so he could hold Olivia on the bench seat on the deck.

"Better than last Valentine's, yes?"

He kissed the top of her head as she eased into his embrace.

"Yes. This time last year I was afraid you might not make it."

They were silent for a time as he thought back to a year ago when they were hiding in a freighter and James' body was fighting off an infection. He smiled as he recalled how good he felt as Olivia had cared for him by rubbing the cold cloths across his feverish body.

"I nearly gave myself away, I think. I felt so good when you were touching me I'm surprised I didn't grab you and kiss you."

He smiled at her light laughter.

"In hindsight, yes, you did nearly tell me. You were disappointed you couldn't give me a proper Valentine's."

"I said something?"

James really couldn't remember a lot over those two or three days.

"Yes. But I thought you were hallucinating and maybe thought I was someone else."

She looked up at him and he leaned in to kiss her.

"You were definitely wrong on that point."

He leaned her back onto the long bench and began to kiss her down her neck to the opening of her blouse.

"James, we should probably take this below."

Her voice was rough with need and James was thrilled. He could not get enough of her. 

Later she lay in his arms in their bed and they talked about their imminent return to reality. 

Their conversation seemed all so mundane in comparison to being on the run for over a year. But James had never been happier.

* * *

 

Tanner was reviewing the latest intel from 005 when his phone rang. He reached for the handset without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Tanner here."

"How about a wedding on the water?"

Bill raised his eyebrows. James had certainly gone straight to the point.

"Well, Bond, I knew you thought highly of yourself, but I think this is taking it too far."

He smirked at his imagined reaction on James' face.

"Har. Har. A boat you lout."

Bill chuckled.

"Pulling out the big college words now?"

Bill could almost picture James sticking his tongue out at him in response. Which made it all the funnier because that was completely out of character.

"Just look into it, will you?"

"Sure. How are things down under?"

He heard James breathe deeply then sigh a contented sigh. It was such a surprise to Bill that he was glad this wasn't a face to face. He'd not have been able to hide his complete surprise. He'd never heard such a sound from James.

"Things are fantastic."

James's voice was just shy of reverent and Bill had a feeling the reason for James' contentment had just walked into view.

"Listen Bill, I have to go. Just check into that for me, huh?"

"I will James. And say hello to Olivia for me."

"I'll get around to it."

The line went dead and Bill grinned. He wasn't much for Valentine's Day, but this one had certainly ended on a good note. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day. :)


End file.
